Expansion-head for barrels.



E. W. ROBINSON.

EXPANSION HEAD ron BARRELS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I5. 1915.

Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

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E. W. ROBINSON.

EXPANSION HEAD FOR BARRELS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY l5. I915.

wrrN (a sis mvgN'ro (owmn M oa a 7 (Qf3md4a B7 is WKORN6Y R UTED- fiTS EDWARD W. ROBINSON, OF SAVANNAE, GEGEGIA, ASSIGNOR T0 INTERNATIONAL BARREL COMPANY, OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, A CORPORATION OF GEORGIA.

EXPANSION-HEAD FOB. BARRELS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnt ed 8 13i; 26, 1916 Application filed July 15, 1915. Serial No. 39,965.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

it known that I, EDWARD V7. ROBIN- sox, a citizen of the United States, residing in Savannah, Georgia, have invented certain Improvements in Expansion- Heads for Barrels, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to so construct an expansible and contractible head for barrels as to reduce to a minimum the number and cost ofthe parts comprising the same, and to cause the head to rigidly brace and support the ends of the staves and thereby prevent the breaking off of the chamfered portions thereof. These objects I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which'- Figure l is an end view of a barrel provided with a head made in accordance with my invention, said head being shown in the contracted position which it assumes when it is first placed in the barrel; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the head expanded into engagement with the crozed and chamfered portions of the staves; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line a-a, Fig. 1; and Fig. at is a transverse section on the line b-b, Fig. 2.

In the drawing, l1 represent the staves at one end of a barrel, said staves having in their inner faces, at some little distance from the ends, the usual croze 2, and that portion of the inner face of each stave, outwardly beyond the croze, being chamfered, as usual, as shown at 3.

The head comprises four main parts, namely, the fixed central bar 4:, the opposite segmental side plates 55, and the locking bar 6. At each end of the fixed bar 41: is anupwardly extending segmental rib 4s, and the segmental side plates 5 are equipped at their outer edges with similar segmental ribs 5, these ribs being beveled on their innor faces as shown at 5 for engagement with the similarly beveled ends of the locking bar 6, as shown in Fig. 4:.

The outer face of each rib r, 5 is beveled, as shown at 5, to correspond with the bevel of the chamfered portions 3 of the corre sponding staves, and below said beveled face 5 each of the members 4: and 5 of the head is provided with a projecting rib 7 adapted to enter and fill the croze 2 in the staves, as shown in Fig. e. The opposite edges of the central bar a and the inner edges of the side plates 5 are mortised, as shown in Figs. 3 and i, for the reception of relatively thin metal plates 8 which fit snugly in said mortises, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The undercut inner faces of the ribs t and 5* serve to retain the locking bar Gin its proper position against the bar 6 or plates 5 without the use ofany central 'pivot, and if it is desired to seal the barrel after the head has been expanded therein this can readily be effected by locking the bar 6, when in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4;, to one or other of the side wings 5, as for instance by means of a screw 9, and then covering the head of said screw with a mass of sealing wax 10, or other suitable form of seal, so as to prevent removal of'the'screw without first destroying the seal.

In applying the head to the barrel the side plates 5 are first retracted so that their inner faces bear against the opposite side faces of the central bar 4-, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, at which time the only portions of the rib 7 which overlap the chamfered ends of the staves are those at the opposite ends of the central bar 4, and those portions of the side plates 5 immediately adjacent thereto, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The central bar and its side plates can therefore be sprung into the end of the barrel, there being suilicient resiliency in the staves at the opposite sides of the barrel to permit outward movement of the ends of the same to an extent sufficient to permit the overlapping portions of the rib 7 to pass the chamfered ends of the staves and enter the croze 2. The side plates 5 are then moved away from the central bar l, as shown in Figs. 2 and i, so as to cause the ribs 7 of said side plates to enter the croze in the remaining staves, the parts being retained in this position by turning the bar 6 from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 2, thereby causing its opposite ends to bear upon the inner faces of the ribs 5 of the side plates and thus retain the latter in their expanded position, or the opposite ends of the bar 6 may, if desired, act as cams to aid in forcing the side plates 5 to their fully expanded position.

When the side plates 5 are expanded the gaps between their inner faces and the side faces of the central bar l are closed by the plates 8 which, as shown in Fig. 2, extend from end to end of the bar I at the base of the ribs 4 and thus prevent the escape of any of the contents of the barrel between said bar and the Side plates 5.

The ribs 45* on the bar 5 and the ribs 5 on the side plates 5 are of such depth as to extend to the ends of the staves, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and said ribs thus serve to brace and support the chamfered portions of the staves and prevent the breaking ofi of the same which in ordinary practice frequently occurs because of the weakening of the staves by the formation of the croze 2 therein.

I am aware that in the patent of J. A. Cook, N 0. 87,760, dated March 16, 1869, is shown an expansion head for barrels, which head comprises a central fixed bar, opposite side plates, and a locking bar centrally pivoted to the central fixed bar and acting against the inner faces of upstanding ribs on the top of said side plates but the outer faces of these ribs were not constructed or intended to bear upon the chamfered portions of the staves in order to brace and stiffen the same, and this novel construction of said ribs thus constitutes a distinctive departure from the head shown in said Cook patent.

I claim The combination of a barrel having staves with crozed and chamfered ends, with an expansion head comprising a central bar and opposite segmental side members, means for closing the gap between said central bar and said side members, each of the latter having an outer segmental rib adapted to fit the crow in the staves and an upwardly projecting segmental flange having an inclined outer face adapted to bear Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

